


Testimony of the Dead

by Tainted_Kattitina



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/F, F/M, Gen, Ghosts, Haunted Houses, M/M, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-04
Updated: 2019-02-11
Packaged: 2019-10-22 02:39:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,351
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17654468
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tainted_Kattitina/pseuds/Tainted_Kattitina
Summary: When Xion and Kairi moved into Oblivion Manor with their mother Aerith, they didn’t expect to uncover ghosts and a secret that’s been kept for over a hundred years.





	1. A home not our own

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Haunted by an Angel](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/454370) by LoquitorLatinae. 



> How about that KH3? Joking - since this fic was started way before that came out. So no spoilers.  
> Inspired quite a bit by Haunted by an Angel by LoquitorLatinae, from way back in 2008-2010. But this time with 1000% more gal representation. If you've never read it, that's fine, this is a completely different fic. I only use the haunted house trope . . . and one other thing which is a spoiler for both that fic and this one but I do it completely differently.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Three move in, but is it too good to be true?

A particularly large bump knocks Xion’s head against the passenger window, waking her up. Groggy and stiff from her position curled against the passenger door, Xion blinks a few times, trying to reorient herself. The engine that once lulled her to sleep, is now obnoxiously loud as it travels up a dirt road. Sitting up, Xion looks out the windows at the rain smeared environment. Another large bump has her mother glancing over at Xion.

“Sorry about that, dear. Dirt driveway all the way up the hill to the house.” Aerith said, sending Xion a quick smile. Aerith looked tired; her long brown hair done up in a messy bun off her neck instead of her traditional braid, dress rumpled, and muscles tense from all the driving. “Did you have a nice nap?” 

“Sure.” Xion turned to look at her sister Kairi, trying to stretch sore muscles. 

Kairi is curled up in the back seat, supported by bags of clothing and other soft items they had thrown back there that morning. Her legs are tucked under her, disappearing under her flowing pink sundress. Her arms are folded across her chest, cellphone held tightly. She had likely fallen asleep while texting her boyfriends.

“How long was I out?” Xion asked, turning back to look at her mother.

Aerith smiled again, but didn’t look away from the road. “Only a couple of hours. I was surprised that you didn’t wake up when I turned off the interstate.”

“And Kairi?”

“I’m awake,” Kairi grumbled from the back seat. Xion turned to look at Kairi. She sat up, legs hanging down to the floor board instead of curled with her on the cushion. She was looking at her phone. Xion turned back to watch the sodden landscape from her window.

“We’re almost there, just out of these trees and you should be able to see the house,” Aerith said. Sure enough, when Aerith made the last turn out of the trees, the house was clearly visible, dominating the front windshield. It was a large house; two stories, a wrap-around porch, and bay windows at either side. 

Something caught Xion’s attention from a second story window, but when she focused on the window, nothing was there. Giving a mental shrug, Xion focused on the rest of the house. Off yellow siding, green shingles, brown trim, and brown doors accented the house. Two steps lead up to the porch, guarded by pale green railing. From the exterior, the most pleasing aspects of the house were the windows and the double front doors. 

“It looks ugly,” Xion stated.

Aerith let out a soft laugh as she finished pulling up to the front steps. “It might not look like much out here,” she said, “but I promise the inside is much better.”

“I think it looks lovely.” Kairi said, eagerly stepping out of the back seat of the van once it was turned off. “It reminds me of a castle.”

“Sure, if the castle had sad, hexagonal towers and had its top lopped off and replaced with roof.” Xion muttered as she climbs out of her seat, taking her black backpack with her. She shivered as rain hit the exposed skin on her arms and legs. 

“Come on girls,” Aerith called, “let’s get everything inside before the rain gets worse.”

Kairi turned as if to approach the house, holding only her pink duffle bag. 

“That means you too, Kairi.” Aerith said, causing Kairi to turn and give a sheepish grin. “You can’t bribe Xion with first bedroom pick this time.” 

“She doesn’t mind.” Kairi said, but she turned back to the van and started pulling some more bags towards her.

Xion made her way to the trunk of the van and started grabbing boxes from there. “It’s true, I like having first pick.”

“I mind.” Aerith said, voice making it clear that the two girls were not to argue anymore. 

Xion and Kairi sighed, but said nothing else. Xion leaned back towards the passenger side and shared a smile with Kairi. Together, the three of them made quick work of unloading the van. They had only a limited number of items, used to moving often and living a minimalistic lifestyle. 

Soon, Xion was bringing in the last of the boxes. Aerith had abandoned the task first after finding their non-perishable food items so she could make them dinner. Kairi had snuck away shortly after to explore the house. Setting the box down by the front door, Xion allowed herself to take a good look at the home. Aerith had been right, the inside was in much better condition than the outside. From the wood flooring to the chandelier hanging from second floor ceiling above the foyer, the inside screamed class and wealth. 

“These rooms are awesome!” Kairi’s voice came from above and to the right. Looking up, Xion watched as Kairi approached the railing that surrounded the balcony overlooking the foyer. “Xion, there’s another room on this side of the house, and there are two on the other side.”

“Any at the back of the house?” Xion asked, making her way to the staircase on the right side of the foyer to join her sister on the second floor.

“Just mom’s room. She has the entire back of the house to herself. But there is another front facing room on the left side.” Kairi said, greeting her sister at the top of the stairs. “And, we don’t have to share a bathroom this time.”

“That’s a relief,” Xion laughed. “Anything cool up here?”

“Well, I found a staircase in Mom’s bathroom,” Kairi said. “Want to follow them down with me?”

“Scared?”

Kairi smirked at Xion before leading the way into the master suite. It was a large open room with a king sized bed across from the double doors, a sitting area to the left, and a door, likely to the bathroom to the right. “Only if you are.” 

“You wish.” Xion replied, returning the smirk. “Show the way.”

The door did lead to the bathroom, and it looked just as expensive as the rest of the house, except for the weird protrusion in the inside corner. This protrusion is where Kairi went to, opening a door into the bathroom.

“Come on,” Kairi urged. “Who knows when we’ll get another chance like this. Mom might decide to lock the door tomorrow.”

Walking over, Xion stepped into the tiny area, looking down. It was a set of narrow, metal stairs, without handles, wrapping around a steel pole. With the only light pouring in from the bathroom, it seemed to descend into bottomless darkness.

“Do you have your phone on you?” Xion asked, looking back at Kairi.

“Does it look like I have pockets?” Kairi asked, shaking out her sundress. “Besides, the battery is dead. Where is your phone?”

Xion scoffed. “Do these shorts look like they have functional pockets?” Xion asked in response. Shrugging, she started going down the stairs, one hand gliding over the pole in the center. “Guess we’re going in the dark.”

“Right, I’ll leave the door open.” Kairi said, following her sister down. She made it about five steps before the door to the bathroom closed, plunging the sisters into complete darkness.

“I thought you said you were going to leave it open.” Xion said, tightening her grip on the steel pole in the middle. 

“I did.” Kairi hissed. “Just stay there, I’ll go back and open it again, maybe grab a pillow to prop it open.”

Xion listened to her sister climb back up the stairs. It was chilly in the staircase, cold air rising from below. Kairi jiggled the doorknob. It remained dark in the stairwell. 

“It’s locked. What should I do?” 

Xion closed her eyes, not that it helped in the dark, and took a steadying breath. “Don’t worry about it, I’m sure there is an exit on the main floor. Come back down to me.”

Xion could hear Kairi take a deep breath in. Why did everything sound so loud in here? “Okay, stay still.”

Xion listened to Kairi cautiously make her way down to the stairs. Though it sounded like Kairi was a few steps up, Xion felt something hard shove her forward.

“Kairi!” Xion shouted, holding tightly to the pole and throwing out her free hand. “I said come down to me, not run into me!”

“I didn’t!” Kairi protested. “I’m only on step four, you were at least three steps in front of me.”

It was true that Xion had been several steps in front of her sister before Kairi had turned around. “Maybe you miscounted. Just hold on to my hand.” 

“Where is it?” Kairi asked, taking another step in the dark.

Their fingers touched, and Xion gave a sigh of relief as she grabbed onto Kairi’s hand. 

“Okay, I’m going to start moving down the stairs again. Keep up with me.” 

If Kairi responded, Xion didn’t hear it. It sounded like her heart was beating out of her chest, the darkness was pressing close to her. If it wasn’t for the steal pole against one hand and Kairi’s hand in the other, Xion wasn’t sure she’d be able to tell where anything was. The staircase seemed so long. Her fingers ran over a sharp edge of the pole. How far down did these stairs go?

“How many more steps?” Kairi asked. Her voice was ragged. She was trying to hold back tears, Xion realized.

“I don’t know.” Xion answered. “It might be more than the main stairs because of how small they are.”

“Could we have passed the main floor?”

“Possibly. We have to reach the bottom eventually.” Xion gave Kairi’s hand a reassuring squeeze, and continued walking down. When the floor leveled out, Xion jolted forward, having expected another stair. “We’re here.”

Xion let go of the pole to look for the door, but couldn’t find even the wall. There was nothing that she could feel. She took first one step forward, then another, allowing Kairi off the stairs. Reaching out, Xion tried to find anything, a wall, or a door. 

“I don’t think we’re on the main floor.” Xion said quietly. It sounded so loud in her ears, as if the sound was magnified.

“We might be in the basement.” Kairi said. “There’s probably a second staircase around here somewhere. Which direction are we facing?”

“I don’t know. It was hard to tell when I was literally walking around in circles.” Xion snapped. 

“Don’t snap at me!” Kairi cried, clenching Xion’s hand tighter. Kairi sighed, and loosened her grip. “Let’s think about this rationally. Do you want me to take the lead?”

Xion didn’t say anything right away, working on controlling her breathing. “Yes please.”

Kairi didn’t verbally respond, but she moved forward, passed Xion a few steps and paused. She repeated the process several times before she stopped and turned to the left. “I think the stairs to the basement are under the right staircase.” Kairi moved forward a few more times, before turning again. 

The process repeated itself, Kairi always moving slowly forward, pausing, and correcting herself when she felt that she moved away from her goal. Slowly, Kairi guided them until she tripped over the first wooden stair. 

“Found it.” Kairi laughed, sounding breathless. 

“Yeah, you did.” Xion pretended that there was dust in her eyes as she took the lead up the stairs. It wasn’t as nerve wracking to move up the straight staircase. There was only one problem. “Kairi,” Xion said, horror creeping into her voice, “the door is locked.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos are love, comments are life!


	2. Small Pieces of History

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Being freed from the literal dark is harder than being freed from the figurative dark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As Xion and Kairi learn more about their new house, we learn more about them.
> 
> Talk of murder. It's a haunted house, these things happen.

Aerith was in the kitchen, preparing a light dinner out of non-perishables when she heard muffled shouting coming from the foyer. Frowning, Aerith removed the pans from the heat and went into the foyer. It was empty, except for the sounds of shouting coming from underneath the right staircase. 

Twisting the handle, Aerith opened the door, spilling Kairi and Xion onto the hard floor of the foyer. “Just what were you two doing down there?” Aerith asked, watching her daughters gather themselves. 

“We were exploring.” Kairi said, fanning out her skirt. She wasn’t meeting Aerith’s eye, meaning she knew they were doing something they weren’t supposed to be doing. 

“Thanks for unlocking the door for us,” Xion said. Like her sister, Xion also refused to look up, but she didn’t have the excuse of shaking out skirts.

Aerith frowned, glancing between Xion and the door. “The door wasn’t locked.”

“Sure it was.” Xion said, looking up at Aerith. “The doorknob wouldn’t turn for me. That’s why we were calling for you.”

“Maybe it’s locked from the outside?” Kairi suggested. “Which is why it was locked for Xion and I but not for you?”

Aerith frowned, reaching over to turn the inside knob of the door. It turned easily in her hand. “See, it’s not locked now. Besides,” Aerith closed the door, pointing out the features of the doorknob to her daughters, “the door doesn’t have a lock.”

The brass at the center of the knob was whole and smooth, no indication that there was a lock on the inside and certainly no lock on the exterior. It was just a plain brass knob.

“Maybe it was stuck?” Xion asked quietly, staring intently at the door. She knew that the handle refused to turn for her when they were on the other side.

“Maybe,” Aerith said, turning back to the kitchen, “but that doesn’t explain why you two decided to explore down there.”

Kairi and Xion followed Aerith, leaning against the island that separated the kitchen from the foyer. “There was a secret set of stairs in your bathroom that we wanted to explore.” Kairi explained. 

“Ah, the servant stairs.” Aerith said calmly, returning to her cooking. One of the pots held canned vegetables while another held simmering rice. “I don’t want you girls on those stairs again. The people who renovated the house left them as a cool feature, but I don’t trust them.”

“Yes, mom.” Xion and Kairi said at the same time. They shared a look. Even without the warning Kairi and Xion were unlikely to go down those stairs when the last time it happened they were trapped in the dark.

Aerith pulled the pot of rice from the stove and drained the pot containing the canned vegetables of excess water. “Good. Now, why don’t you two go wash up, dinner is ready.” 

The girls sighed, but dispersed to do as they were told, not saying another word as they took turns in the powder room under the left staircase. 

Washing her hand, Xion frowned at the shallow wound across her palm. It was on the hand the held onto the pole the stairs centered around, but it was not bleeding. In fact, despite being red and inflamed, it barely stung at all. 

 

Later that evening, after dinner, dishes, and all the bags and boxes had been taken to their respective rooms, the three sat down to relax in the living room. The room was quiet except for the pitter-patter of rain against the windows. Kairi was sprawled on the floor, recovered phone close at hand as she flipped through a photo album, making notes in pink glitter pen on the back of the photos. Aerith sat in a chair, a book of plants native to the Radiant Garden area open in front of her. Xion rested against an arm of the large couch, Gameboy in hand. 

Kairi was the first to break the silent time with a large sigh. “This house is so big.”

“I thought you two would appreciate it after our last places.” Aerith responded, closing her book over a bookmark. 

“Doesn’t stop it from feeling too big.” Xion muttered.

Kairi shrugged as best she could from her position. “It just feels a little excessive. I mean, we’ve got two spare bedrooms, a large formal dining room, a parlor, and a study.”

Aerith gave a little laugh. “I suppose it does feel a little large after the apartments and finished basements we rented in the past, but it was cheaper than most of the apartments in the cities.”

Xion turned off her game and closed her Gameboy. “Okay, but why is this place cheap? You’d think that for the square footage and the acreage, it would be super expensive.”

“That’s because this place is supposed to be haunted.” Aerith said lightly. 

Xion and Kairi shared a look, thinking of their adventure to the basement earlier. The door at the top shutting and locking, Xion feeling a shove, the door to the basement not opening for them. Xion felt the muscles in her back, neck, and jaw tensing, the hairs on her arms rising as if suddenly chilled. 

“You brought us to a haunted house?” Xion forced herself to ask slowly, trying to relax the fingers around her Gameboy.

Aerith hummed lightly. “I’m sure it’s just a rumor, fueled by active imaginations. Superstition and such.”

“Has anyone died here?” Kairi asked as she sat up, moving her legs to the side. 

Xion thought about the portraits in the parlor and study that she had seen briefly while sorting out boxes. The sad girl, the angry woman, the stern older man, and the wicked looking young man. Were one of them still lingering? All of them? Were they angry? They couldn’t be benevolent with what they had done earlier.

“Only the original family, but that was over a hundred years ago.” Aerith said, standing. “Come on, I’ll tell you their story.”

Shrugging at each other, Kairi and Xion stood and followed Aerith across the foyer into the more formal parlor area. There, over the piano, was a large painting with three people. A man, probably in his mid to early forties, and two girls, one in her early teens and one in her early twenties. All three of them had blond hair. The older woman was glaring out at the world from where she was sitting to the right of her father, half lost in his shadow. 

“This is Ansem, one of Radiant Garden’s historic scholars, he was mayor for a time when his daughters, Larxene and Naminé were born. He is better known as Ansem the Wise and wrote many of our founding principles.” Aerith said, looking up at the painting. “Ansem resigned as mayor after his wife died giving birth to Naminé. He built this house to raise his daughters and continue his search for knowledge. Larxene was a wild child, running off, playing with the boys in the woods, and generally ignoring her father’s commands. Naminé was different, she was described as kind and sweet, exceeding in art and music.”

Aerith led the girls though the door into the study where there was another painting. It showed Ansem, but instead of his daughters he was accompanied by a young man with silver hair and golden eyes. The young man stood behind the chair that Ansem sat in, half cast in shadow.

“When Larxene turned twenty-three, Ansem took on an apprentice named Xehanort. Xehanort was supposed to be more than that though, he was also Larxene’s fiancé. However, about a year after the engagement began, the housekeeper turned up in town, pale and shaken. She had taken the weekend off to visit her god-daughter, and came back to find everyone, including the gardener dead.”

“How did they die?” Xion asked, swallowing a lump in her throat. She felt cold all over, as if someone was looking at her will ill intentions. She couldn’t look away from Xehanort’s golden eyes. 

“No one knows.” Aerith said, drawing out the vowels and making them waver in an attempt to sound spooky. “Apparently, since it was clear a fight happened, the police ruled it a murder-suicide and didn’t investigate any more than that.”

“You sure know a lot about this.” Kairi said, nudging Xion’s side and breaking Xion’s concentration. Xion looked away from the portrait and instead at the bookshelves. Whoever furnished the house before them left quite the collection.

Aerith laughed, and ushered the girls back into the parlor. “I had to do a report during senior year about a historical site in the Radiant Garden area, and chose this place.” She pointed to the young teen. “Some of her paintings are in the Radiant Garden Cultural Museum if either of you are interested.”

Xion frowned. “But if this is a historical site, shouldn’t it be a museum or something?” Something where people weren’t planning on staying the night.

“The interior was changed too much for them to do so, but they are in control of what happens to the outside of the house.” Aerith replied as the three made their way into the foyer.

Xion snorted. “Is that why it’s so ugly on the outside?”

“You got it! Now, I don’t know about the two of you, but I am exhausted.” Aerith said, starting to climb the stairs on the right side of the foyer. “Have a good night.”

“You too, mom.” Kairi said.

“Same.” Xion said. 

The two sisters watched as Aerith made her way up the stairs, listening as the doors to the master bedroom closed before they turned to each other. 

“Okay,” Xion said, “you’ve been too quiet lately. What’s up?”

Kairi sighed, wrapping her arms around her torso as if to give herself a hug. “I don’t like this. It was one thing when you and Roxas were dealing with this stuff last year, but this seems different. More serious. And not just because this time you can’t keep me out of it by distracting me with my boys.”

“It really does.” Xion said, opening her arms for a hug. “And since what happened with Roxas was minor, if more weird things happen, I’m going to call in Lea and ask him to come clear out the house. Whatever happens, we’ll get this taken care of before anything terrible happens.”

Kairi accepted Xion’s hug, squeezing tight. “Thank you. Sorry for being so uncertain.”

“No problem.” Xion said, squeezing back. “And while you might be uncertain right now, I know you. You’ll be there for me when I need you most.” 

Kairi laughed as she disengaged from her sister. “That’s right, and don’t you forget it!” 

“I won’t.” Xion said, going up the stairs on her own. “Night!”

“Night!”

With a final wave down to her sister Xion made her way to her bedroom. It was a clean but sparse room, with white walls, a full-sized bed, an end table, and tall dresser. The only personality came from Xion’s black backpack on the bed and a large blue suitcase sat the foot of the bed. Even the sheets on the bed (which had come with the house like everything else) were a simple light blue in color. 

Suddenly too exhausted to care, Xion crawled onto her bed next to her backpack. She was out before she had the chance to think about even turning off her lights. 

Xion woke with a start, breath short as she looked around her room. It was empty, her backpack on the floor, contents everywhere from where she had left it unzipped to grab her Gameboy. She could see her phone blinking with a notification from the mesh side pocket. Groaning, Xion flopped back into her bed. 

“What was I dreaming about?” Xion asked herself quietly, staring at the ceiling. The ceiling had no reply. Sighing, Xion rolled off her bed, carefully avoiding the jumble of paper and cords spilling from her bag to make her way towards her bathroom. 

Washing her hands in the sink, Xion looked herself over. Her hair dark brown hair was a tangled mess, her tank top had ridden up in her restless sleep, and a bruise was forming around her left bicep. Frowning, Xion turned to get a better look at it. It looked like a handprint. She didn’t remember feeling anything grab her hard enough to leave a bruise.

Shaking her head, Xion turned to leave the bathroom, ignoring the urge to look at the mirror from the corner of her eye. Back in her bedroom, Xion shoved most of her items back into her bag, leaving out only her cellphone cord and her cellphone.

The notifications came from her friends in Twilight Town, asking how her move was and what the new place was like. Smiling, Xion resolved to text them in the morning. The last message was from Roxas.

 _Hey, hope the move went smoothly. Let me know if you need anything._

_Do you still have Lea’s number?_ Xion texted back before she could think too much about it. It might be nothing, but better safe than sorry.

The response was surprisingly quick. _I do, but he said he was traveling for a few months. Do you need it right away?_

 _No, I was just curious._ Xion answered, frowning. If the house really was haunted, and it was starting to feel like it was, she just had to hold out for a year. She was a high school senior, one year in a haunted house wouldn’t stop her from going to college and returning to Twilight Town. And a few weeks to gather data wouldn't hurt either while Lea was traveling. 

_Alright, let me know if you need anything else._ Roxas sent back. _If nothing else I can send you some of the stuff Lea gave me at the beginning of my problem._

 _Alright, I will._ Xion agreed, smiling at the concern Roxas was showing her. _But for now, I think you should get to bed._

_Look who is talking! You’re the one that started texting me at three in the morning!_

Xion looked at her phone’s clock, noticing for the first time that it was, indeed, three in the morning. _Sorry, I just had a hard time sleeping. I’ll talk to you at a more decent hour later._

_Alright, goodnight._

Smiling, Xion plugged in her phone, turned off the lights, and crawled into bed. She was back asleep before she could register the sudden chill in the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm using the Org names for some org member and the somebody names for other Org members. Let me know if this is too confusing! 
> 
> Again, kudos are love, comments are life (even when I take a while to respond).


End file.
